Fish is his old self again

OK, the incision on the tummy is improved, but still looks ugly, and it will take even longer for the hair to grow back. And he's got one more antibiotic pill to go plus the special food.

But.

He's jumped with ease to the bathroom counter, where he stole a piece of Agatha's food.
He's "forgotten" the half-known rules about not sharpening claws on the upholstery.
He's back to taking most moves of Agatha's (like walking across a room in his sight) as a signal to hurry after her and either pounce on her or otherwise irritate, say by butt-sniffing or poking with a paw. I heard her give a loud hiss and spit while eating my dinner, and just yelled "Fish!" in instinctive reaction.
and to top it off...
He's gotten used to the morning feeding, and starts his aggravation routine to indicate that he's ready for breakfast. For the aggravation routine, see above.

This morning wake-up is exactly why I cling to feeding my cats once a day (they get a measured amount of dry food, no free-feeding). I hate to think how long it will be before Fish forgets the connection of "person out of bed = food".

Dinner tonight

Sparked by a comment by akatsukami about "meatloafburgers", I was inspired to experiment a little with one of my comfort-food recipes: barbecued meatloaf. This is a meatloaf with part of a can of tomato puree mixed in the loaf and the rest used to make a barbecue sauce that gets poured over it for the last half of the baking time.

I was interested in improving the meat-to-sauce ratio, and in helping my portion-control efforts--this is one of those recipes where I find it all to easy to keep going back for just a little more, or to underestimate the amount I've put on my plate.

I made the loaf mixture, and then formed it into individual portions sort of like plump hamburgers. Or meatloafburgers. (This is not the usage that akatsukami had in mind, incidentally.) Placed these in a larger pan than usual to accommodate the extra area and baked, reducing the cooking times. The result was just what I'd hoped--more sauce coating the meat, and I know that my allowed portion is one hamburger. Patty. Mini-meatloaf. Whatever.

Served this with the last serving of an artichoke-and-portobello bake from earlier in the week, steamed broccoli, and a freshly baked mini-challah. Joining my sister-in-law and the kids for shabbat most Fridays has gotten me addicted to fresh challah at the end of the week. As they are out of town this weekend, I had to bake my own (from frozen dough, I hasten to add).